Walk Two Moons Chapter 39 Summary

Homecoming

The next day, Phoebe begs Sal to come over to her house to be a "witness" to her mother's return. We can't imagine actually wanting to be a fly on that wall, but Sal's game.

At the Winterbottom's house, Prudence and Mr. Winterbottom are cleaning everything from top to bottom. When the house is spotless, they decide to mess it up a bit so that Mrs. Winterbottom won't think that they can survive without her.

Mr. Winterbottom is very nervous. He changes his shirt several times, paces around the yard, and wipes the counters continuously. Poor guy.

Finally, a taxi pulls up and Mrs. Winterbottom arrives with the lunatic. Mr. Winterbottom is totally confused at first. Who is this guy that she has brought with her?

Plus, something else has changed. Mrs. Winterbottom looks amazing. She's cut her hair in a very stylish way and she's wearing a stylish outfit. She's like a whole new woman.

Mrs. Winterbottom breaks into tears, explaining to her family that Mike the lunatic is her son.

Whoa. What?

She tells them that she had Mike before she married Mr. Winterbottom and gave him up for adoption. She's been trying so hard to be "respectable" that she hasn't ever told Mr. Winterbottom about Mike.

When Mike tried to find her, she was scared at first, but then she decided she wanted to reconnect with him.

Everyone is stunned. Shocked. Dumbfounded. Except for Phoebe, who is just plain angry.

Mr. Winterbottom wants to know whether his wife plans on leaving them for good. Shallow Prudence, on the other hand, just flirts with Mike. What a mess.

Mrs. Winterbottom tells them that she doesn't intend to leave unless they want her to leave, so Mr. Winterbottom shakes Mike's hand and proposes that they all sit down and talk things out. Aw, what a nice guy.

Phoebe is so ticked off by her family, she decides to leave with Sal.

Just as they open the front door, Sal and Phoebe discover Mrs. Partridge leaving a message in white envelope on the Winterbottoms' front porch. Dun dun dun.